Bingo gambling in Alabama

Bessemer: "They did us a favor," Mayor Ed May said Oct. 20 after the Bessemer City Council failed to override his veto of a second electronic bingo gambling ordinance passed Oct. 6.

But May believes his fight to keep electronic games out of the city is far from over since council President Earl Cochran refused to accept May's veto and is said to be working on an electronic bingo gambling permit application.

The ordinance, voted 4�� by the council, would have allowed bingo facilities around the city to operate 24��xcept from 12:01 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

In his veto, May cited the "alarming and unanticipated" growth rate of controversy surrounding electronic bingo gambling operations in Jefferson County.

"It becomes more and more obvious each day that the legality of the gaming device on which this new game of bingo would be played is truly at the heart of the controversy," May wrote.

"As you can see, the law is very unsettled in this area and until municipalities are given clear directions or at least one defining decision is rendered by the Alabama Supreme Court, the governing body of the city of Bessemer would appear remiss if it succumbs to the pressure of outside entities and legalize the playing of bingo by electronic means in Bessemer."

But Cochran, who heads the electronic bingo gambling committee named to prepare the ordinance, and council member Louise Alexander, also a member of the bingo committee, questioned the timing of the veto.

May, City Clerk Travis Brooks and City Attorney Aaron Killings all verified the veto was turned in before the required 10-day period was up, but Cochran and Alexander claim it was not.

"How do we know (the veto) hit the clerk's hand within 10 days," Alexander said. "You can go back and stamp anything. He (the clerk) is going to say or do whatever it takes to keep his job."

In turn, the council neither accepted nor rejected the mayor's veto. It just ignored it.

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